BEIJING, Dec 25, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – At least five people were killed and 21
injured after a hijacked bus crashed into pedestrians in east China’s Fujian
province on Tuesday afternoon, state media reported.
A hijacker carrying a knife had been detained and was being investigated by
local police, state television CGTN reported.
The incident happened at about 3:20 pm in the city of Longyan, the local
Minxi Ribao newspaper reported. A policeman was among the five confirmed
dead.
A video posted by Duowei news, a Chinese media outlet based in the US,
showed several injured people lying on the street near a crashed bus. It also
showed police wrestling a person to the ground.
The Longyan public security bureau declined to comment when contacted by
AFP.
China has suffered several similar incidents this year.
In late November a car rammed into a group of children crossing a street in
front of an elementary school in northeast China’s Liaoning province, killing
five people and injuring another 18.
Earlier that month, about 15 people died when a bus plunged off a bridge in
southwest Chongqing municipality, after the driver got into a fist fight with
a passenger who had missed her bus stop.
In February, a van packed with pressurised gas tanks and petrol-filled
bottles caught fire and ploughed into pedestrians in Shanghai, leaving at
least 18 people injured.
Grisly car accidents are common in China, where transportation authorities
have struggled to enforce safety regulations, which are often flouted or go
unenforced.